I don't have words for what I'm feeling after yesterday's election results. Or rather, I have too many words for what I'm feeling - confusion, disbelief, frustration, dismay, anger, shame, uncertainty. But mostly, sadness. I've never been hugely into presidential politics. Maybe it's because it's always felt so far away, so removed from my life and the people I love. Maybe it's because presidential hopefuls don't tend to spend much time on topics I'm most passionate about (education, the environment, social justice). Whatever the reason, I don't tend to have emotional connections to candidates. Barack Obama's election was exciting and full of hope, but typically, I don't get emotionally wrapped up in any of the presidential races.

And until yesterday, this presidential race was no different for me. The whole thing was too ridiculous to invest emotional energy in. So many horrifying things were said by Trump and his supporters that I didn't want to waste my time by paying attention to any of it. I knew who I was voting for. Hillary Clinton, while not my favorite candidate, had so many traits that would make her a qualified and effective president. And there was that added awesomeness of being the first female president.

I knew who I was voting for, and, perhaps naively, I didn't think Trump had a legitimate chance of getting elected. Looking back, if I thought my country could elect a man who sexually assaults women, vows to ban all Muslims, and is openly supported by the KKK, I might have paid more attention, and done more to stop it.

But I didn't. And I feel an immense, deep sadness. The sadness seems to be lingering, and it only grows when I hear stories of Muslim students feeling afraid to come to school. When I hear of families fearing that they'll lose their health insurance.

And when I hear from one of my students' moms that her daughter, upon hearing that Trump won the election, asked, "Mom, is he going to make it so that people with black skin can't come to my school anymore?"

What shame. That a kindergartener would be asking that question about her country's soon-to-be-president. And that her mom had to hesitate before answering, "No," because she didn't know with what certainty she could say there is no way something like that could happen.

My sadness lingers, and I will let it for a few more days. But after that, I know, it's time for action. My personality, which is Type A All the Way, is searching for a plan, an actionable plan for how to move forward. I need to figure out how to talk to my students about these issues, so that they know they're safe and loved, no matter who they are. I need to become more active in local politics, because the local arena is where we as individuals have the most power.

And I need to become more emotionally involved in the fight to support people of color, immigrants, queer and trans people, low-income families, and other marginalized groups. Part of the reason I've been unattached to presidential candidates in the past is because I am sick of the politics, and feel powerless to do anything about it. But I realize that my ability to be unattached also reflects my privileged status as a White woman. Going forward, I want to be more conscious of that fact, and do what I can to support the work that has already been going on in the fight for justice. Here's a list of some possibilities.

Happy October! Last week I had the privilege of guest-posting on one of my favorite blogs, Raising Race Conscious Children. You can check out the original article here, and then spend some time browsing their other articles. It was an immense pleasure to contribute to the knowledge they have there, for parents, educators and others who are interested in talking about race with children!

It was just another moment in kindergarten, when the teacher (me) is ushering, begging, pleading that all the energetic and excited little bodies stop what they're doing and come to the carpet for a story. There was a lot going on, including a little girl asking for a bandaid for a non-existent wound, a little boy getting his snack out when I had clearly just asked everyone to come to the rug for storytime, and a dozen other conversations among five-year-olds. When I looked over at one group of boys, they were pulling the corners of their eyes up into little slits, and saying "Hahaha!" and "You look Chinese!"

Two other boys, including one fifth-grade mentor who helps in my classroom, started to do it too. When you're little, it's fun to make your body contort in different shapes and show other people what it looks like. And if it makes someone laugh, chances are other children will join in too.

But an innocent moment between friends was tainted with racist undertones - and I didn't know what to do.

I like to think of myself as well-read and well-intentioned when it comes to talking about race with children. Race, skin color, and culture is something we talk about often in my kindergarten classroom, and I even recently started working with a racial justice group who leads conversations about race with local parent groups. But in the moment, when I was worried about a million other things, including getting my class to the carpet in a somewhat efficient manner so we could move on to the next lesson, I wasn't sure what to say to my little group of boys who were unknowingly making stereotypical comments about a group of people.

Here's what I said: "I see what you're doing with your eyes to make them that shape. There are many things that make a person Chinese, and the shape of their eyes is just one aspect of being Chinese-American."

Not a terrible answer. I'm glad I didn't say "Don't do that!" or "[gasp] What a mean thing to do!" without giving any explanation about why such a gesture is harmful towards others.

I'm also glad I didn't ignore it, telling myself that "kids will be kids."

But I wondered, what would I have done differently if I had more time, or had made more time, to address the encounter? If I would have stopped, taken a breath, and decided to make it a teachable moment?

Because these teachable moments, the chances that we as teachers have to notice racism, call out stereotypes, and teach our children how to be more accepting and honoring of all others, are more important than any math lesson we need to teach, or tests we need to give.

As quoted in this New York Times article, "It's the children whose parents [or teachers] do directly address race — and directly means far more than vaguely declaring everyone to be equal — who are less likely to make assumptions about people based on the color of our skin."

If I would have prioritized it, maybe I would have said "Let's stop and talk about this." And then held a conversation with my small group of boys, or perhaps with my whole class, about the meaning of the word "stereotype," and the cultural and historical context of how Asian Americans have been treated in our country - including using the shape of (some) people's eyes to belittle or dehumanize them.

Or we could have read several books with protagonists from Asian countries, and discussed the fact that people whose ancestors come from many Eastern countries can have many different physical features.

Or maybe I could talk about how pretending to "be" someone of another race or ethnicity by changing one small thing about your body, temporarily, is dishonoring of who that person is as a whole human being.

No matter how I moved forward with the conversation, it would have been better to spend more time on it, to help my young students really understand the power of their actions, and to help them learn to navigate our world of race and racism with grace and acceptance. But I forgive myself, and all other parents and teachers who don't know what to say, because these moments are teachable moments for me too - and I'll use this one to better inform what I can do next time.

One of my main goals as a kindergarten teacher is to help my students be comfortable in their own skin (literally and figuratively). Thus, every year we talk about race. To be more accurate, we talk about skin color. I am a big proponent of having this conversation with young children, because as research shows, kids notice it already. While many adults want to pretend that they "don't see color," kids already begin to notice differences in skin color when they are infants. I believe it's important to discuss and explore our differences, instead of focusing only on how we are all the same. So every year, I teach an All About Me unit that includes discussions and explorations of our skin color.
To jumpstart these conversations, I read aloud many of the great children's books that have been written about race and skin color. I decided to compile a list of the books that I find most helpful, because every year I go back to try to find them. I encourage you to read them with your students, or purchase them for your home! (And for more information on what we do after reading the books, click here or here.)

A few weeks ago I went to a community event that was intended to start a conversation about race among teachers and parents. The topic was how children understand race, and I wrote about what I learned here. The biggest thing that stuck out to me was the need to TALK about race. Don't pretend it's not there, don't be "colorblind," but bring it up, discuss it with kids, make it an issue because it already is an issue in society, whether we like it or not.
This is easier said than done, though. As a parent, I imagine it is super challenging, because you want to get it right the first time, and in a concise and developmentally appropriate manner. And as a public school teacher, it's challenging because I want to do those things, and also not offend anybody either. The topic of "race" is not built into my sanctioned curriculum, but it is a real-world issue that my kids face on a daily basis. And within my classroom community, I want kids of all colors to feel valued and important. I want them to know that it's okay to be different, and in fact being different is a good thing. I want them to notice diversity, and talk about it, and learn why it's important.

Eventually, I want my kids to know that some people don't think diversity is a good thing, and that we have systems in our communities that are unfair, that racism and prejudice and bigotry exists. They're going to face it in one form or another, whether we like it or not. And I want them to know that they can, and should, do something about it.

Of course, I teach kindergarten, so I have to figure out a way to fit all of that into lessons that a six-year-old can understand, and remember. I've put together some ideas on how to teach these topics over the past few years. I'm not sure how good I am at it, but I'm doing the best that I can, and I thought I would share what I do each year!

(P.S. I don't claim original credit for any of these ideas. They're taken from other teachers, books, magazines, and classes. I also follow several Pinterest boards on this topic, here, here, and here.)

We started off by looking at pictures of children from around the world, and sharing our observations. What does their hair look like? What does their skin look like? Can you see where they live? Do they look the same or different from you?

Then we start a discussion about our skin color. I make sure to stock up my classroom library with tons of books about skin color, hair, and being yourself. There's a really good list here if you're searching.

Several of the books teach that while skin is often called "black" or "white," we are all actually various shades of brown. For example, we read the book The Colors of Us by Karen Katz. The book talks about a girl whose community is filled with people of many different skin colors. Instead of using the words "black" or "white" to describe their skin color, she uses different words for shades of brown. We compared our skin colors to each other's, and each kindergarten then picked out a skin-color crayon that most closely matched their skin. (Skin color crayons are available here.)

After making a list of the colors we are, we use the crayons to draw portraits of ourselves, and hang them in the classroom for all to see. After we take down the posters, I make them into a big book that is a popular choice for Read to Self time.

We also read a book called It's Okay to Be Different, by my favorite author Todd Parr. The message in this book is that we are all different, and instead of ignoring this fact, we should celebrate it! Some excerpts from the book:

I've also had the kids do a similar skin color comparison activity using paint chips of various shades of brown.

Then we share how our beautiful skin made us feel. The kids really enjoy repeating the lesson, and I hope that it contributes to an overall positive sense of who they are.

We also read the book I Love My Hair by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley and share why we loved our own hair. I then take a picture of each kid's hair, as well as their faces, to create a matching game. The game is available as an activity throughout the day. This is a great way to help kids pay attention to detail and truly notice the differences among each other.

That at the end, we take a photo of our beautiful skin.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of ideas, and I find myself tweaking it each year. There are lots more ideas available online if you want to teach/talk about skin color. I also want to do more reading on how to incorporate anti-bias education in more subtle ways throughout my curriculum, particularly how to teach about social injustices around race and skin color. But this is a start for now!

Tomorrow we have off school to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Kindergarten is often the first time that students are introduced to him and the movement he helped start in our country. Learning about MLK and other heroes of the civil rights movement is a great time to discuss concepts of tolerance and diversity, both in and out of the classroom. It's also a great time to discuss discrimination and injustice in the world - which many think are concepts too heavy for a kindergarten classroom. But these are ideas that kids will encounter constantly as they grow up. I firmly believe that kids have an innate sense of "fairness," and when given the chance, they have lots to share about the things that are unfair in our world.
I also think it's extremely important to teach tolerance throughout the year, rather than isolating it during MLK week or Black History Month. This unit began in the beginning of the year, as part of my effort to build community in the classroom. We continued the second half of the unit this month.

During one of the first weeks of school, we read the book The Colors of Us by Karen Katz. The book talks about a girl whose community is filled with people of many different skin colors. Instead of using the words "black" or "white" to describe their skin color, she uses different shades of brown. We compared our skin colors to each other's, and each kindergarten then picked out a skin-color crayon that most closely matched their skin. Here are their matches:

Then we used the crayons to color in portraits of ourselves, and hung them in the hallway for all to see! After we took down the posters, I made them into a big book that is a popular choice for Read to Self time.

We took a photo of our beautiful skin!

When January began, we revisited this book and again discussed how our skin colors can be all different - but we have much in common! We read several books on Martin Luther King Jr. and the fight for equal rights for people of all skin colors. You can see some of the videos we watched: this one and this one (made by a kindergartener)! We also read the excellent book The Skin You Live In by Michael Taylor, which talks about how skin is for running, jumping, and playing in, not separating people.

We then listened to an excerpt of MLK's I Have a Dream speech. I explained that it wasn't a dream like we have at night while we're sleeping, but instead a hope or wish that he had for the world. Then each kindergartener came up with their own dream for the world. We drew pictures of that dream and hung them up in the classroom for all to see.

To finish the unit, we met with our third grade reading buddies who are also studying Martin Luther King Jr. and how skin colors can be different. As a group, we looked at two eggs, a brown one and a white one. We talked about what was the same and what was different about each, then cracked them both open to see what they looked like on the inside. They were the same! We talked about the lesson this teaches us about how skin color may make us look different on the outside, but we have many things in common on the inside.

a journal entry on what we saw inside each egg

P.S. I put together this unit myself but I got lots of ideas from amazing teachers on Pinterest and other blogs. I also downloaded this excellent free MLK unit from Eberhart's Explorers.